Automation in business is already causing a paradigm shift in how both small and large businesses operate on a daily basis. In fact, automation has created an incredible opportunity for small business owners to compete with larger corporations by improving their processes and time management.
Marketing is the one area where sales automation shows a lot of potential. Here are some marketing automation strategies to optimize your marketing and sales funnel.
Lead generation
Lead generation has been a key part of doing business as long as sales have existed. Whether it’s bakers trying to get consumers into their stall at the market in days gone by or modern internet moguls building a rapport with potential customers, lead generation is a crucial component of the sales funnel process.
Generate leads by offering something of low cost (or free) and high value to your potential customers. This presents an opportunity to create a positive emotional response with customers and encourage them to make a purchase, similar to a free sample at the grocery store.
Common lead generation methods include:
- Quizzes
- eBooks
- Printables
- eCourses
- Consultations
- Webinars
These lead magnets are offered through various online channels and are automatically sent to your prospect’s inbox once they provide their contact info. While a lead magnet takes time to create, once it’s launched, it’s a low-maintenance, evergreen way to automate the entry point of a sales funnel, and often trigger a predetermined email flow to help your lead move from one stage to another.
Email marketing
Email marketing has long been the main element of building a sales funnel online. If you don’t have experience with email marketing, you should take the time to expand your knowledge. Take time to learn to send your Parserr data to Salesforce, how to organize your email outreach, and how to craft an effective email series.
When starting an email marketing campaign within your sales funnel, there are a few major things to consider. First, what is the goal of the campaign? Next, what will be done with the leads who don’t reach that goal? For effective sales funnel automation, leads should be recycled through different channels.
To create an automated email marketing funnel, you will need about as many as ten emails crafted in advance and scheduled to be triggered when a lead magnet is downloaded. You need to know the basics of storytelling to build trust with a customer. Focus on being in alignment with the brand and use soft selling techniques before asking for the sale in the final emails.
Paying attention to analytics and conversion rates is essential for determining the effectiveness of your email marketing automation.
Social media
Social media makes up a significant part of modern marketing, as it’s the direct doorway into your potential customers’ hearts. It creates an opportunity to connect with leads and customers on a personal level, and continuously build trust and brand awareness.
Social media is an effective way to share content that will draw customers into signing up for an email list or a lead magnet. It also creates a platform for creating another channel to help leads make their first buy through promotions.
The most common way to incorporate automation into social media is to use a scheduling service like Buffer. Social media scheduling services automatically post content at the optimal times to enhance visibility and allow for compelling sales stories to be released with minimal human effort on the back end.
Another way to automate social media and enhance the user experience is to use If This Then That (IFTTT) to streamline your marketing efforts. For example, having an automated response to thank someone for following you on Twitter starts a conversation and makes a potential lead feel appreciated. It can create alerts for when someone mentions the brand on social media and capture that information in a database. This information can help shape future campaigns and automation strategies.
Make marketing simple
The more accessible a brand appears to customers, online or offline, the more success a business will have in creating an effective sales funnel. Sales automation can help businesses add a human touch when building a rapport with customers and stand out amidst the noise online.
